Cost of Kids’ Birthday Parties and Ideas to Save Big

I remember the week leading up to my birthday party in third grade. My second grade teacher’s son had come into school to visit his mother (he went to a different school) during the last week of the previous school year, and I had a secret crush on him. My mother gave me invitations to hand out to my friends I wanted to invite and I had gotten up the nerve to revisit my second grade teacher and hand her an invitation for her son. He said yes! Leading up to the party I felt butterflies in my stomach. The party itself was amazing—he even held my hand during one of the slow songs. Sigh!

As adults we don’t normally throw annual birthday parties for ourselves (though I did just throw my husband a bowling party in true sixth-grade style last month), so it’s nice to have birthday parties for children while they are still kids. Plus, it’s just a lot of fun. But just how much money does a typical birthday party cost?

While researching prices of children’s birthday parties I learned a few things. First of all, there are a large number of venues that host birthday parties. Variety in venue also reflects how varied the pricing is (I surveyed these venues in the Houston region, so this may vary in other areas). In the chart below I’ve given a sampling of the types of parties that are available and the cost for each. I based each price on a party of 10 children (where this did not fit the party model offered I’ve made a note), and choosing the cheapest package in instances where there was a choice.

Event

Cost

Cost per Child

What is Included

Bowling

$181.30

$18.31

2 hours of unlimited bowling, rental shoes, 1-2 slices of pizza per child and unlimited soda, party decorations, bowling pin for guests to autograph for birthday child, invitations, goody bag with a free bowling game for each child

Personal room and party host for 2 hours (party host cleans up), choice of one of several crafts to do like Messy party, Tub of Fun, Dr. Seuss, Build-A-Bear, etc. You purchase the craft supplies (that is the approximate $7 per person) at a 10-20% discount off of everything, they provide a list depending on which craft you choose

It seems like kids will be happy so long as they get cake, have kid-friendly food, get to hang out with friends, feel special, and there is an activity involved that would be considered “cool”. As long as you satisfy this list it doesn’t matter if you spend several hundred dollars or under $100.

I decided to brainstorm and research some alternative ideas for great birthday parties that will help your budget. Obviously the age and gender of your child makes some of these choices great and others completely unrealistic. Also, time of year will play a role in many of these activities. Pick through the list and see if you find anything useful—I’d love to hear your own ideas in the comments below!

Sleepover: This is definitely a larger time commitment than the others, but I used to love sleepover parties of my own and at my friends’ homes. If it’s in the summer, everyone could even camp out! We only needed the following for a fantastic night: rented movies, frozen pizza, munchies, any popular board games of the time (can you believe I used to own Mall Madness??), and nail polish.

Craft Party: I think Michael’s offers a great deal above because you basically just pay for the craft supplies and food you want to serve. However, you can do the same thing in your home, with the advantage that whatever the guest makes is their take-home “goody”. Make slime, sand art (just like at the carnival!), beaded or other jewelry (craft stores have a great selection of jewelry-making items), tie-dye tee shirts, etc.

Rent a Popular Movie Around its Release: Is your child’s party around the release date of a really popular movie? (I am thinking in the past this would have been Harry Potter, Twilight, High School Musical which my niece was gaga for, etc.). Make a themed party in your living room complete with gourmet popcorn, hangout chairs, and movie posters. You could also purchase a cake with the movie characters on it.

Scavenger Hunt: This can be either indoors or outdoors, and could also incorporate the internet. Divide the party into teams that make sense for the number of people you have, and then give them a custom-made scavenger hunt to follow along. Depending on where you are located, you might want to give out compasses. Be sure to splurge on a few prizes for the winning team to up the ante.

Dig for Treasures: I came up with this idea when I saw our neices’ sandbox. Kids love to hunt for treasures (don’t we all?), and so it would be so much fun to bury them in sand and have a treasure hunt! If you don’t have a sand box, you could fill a plastic kiddie pool with sand. Treasures could be little action figures you can find at craft stores, containers of putty, coins, or you could go all out and do a pirate theme. You will need to provide each child with a bag of some sort to put their treasures in.

Water Gun Paintball: Have the guests bring old tee-shirts they can ruin, or purchase ones specifically for this party. Also, purchase water guns and dye water different colors for each team. Divide everyone into teams and play some water gun paintball in the backyard. You could take it to a park as well if you don’t have the space.

Tea Party: I am envisioning elegant invitations, little girls dressed in cute frilly dresses and dainty cakes/cupcake bites. The downside is you don’t necessarily want to put out your best china unless it’s an older age group. You could probably find some great tea cups/sets at thrift stores/Goodwill, and could even put together a mismatched set for the occasion.

Cooking Party: Be your own chef/demonstrator or look into hiring a personal chef/student at a culinary program for an hour. Make sure to factor in age group and ingredient costs when choosing the recipe. If you have leftover money you could purchase aprons cheaply and have the kids decorate them with fabric paint.

Water Balloon Fight: Provide plenty of ammo, which you can fill ahead of time. You can pick teams and then fill a plastic container of water balloons for each team to take to their base. Decide the rules and how to declare a winner, such as a ‘capture-the-flag’ type of game where you are eliminated if you are hit by a balloon, or some other end goal in mind.